Last Updated on 21 January 2025 by Colette
Check out details of the 2025 Stick Man Trail at Delamere Forest here
Gruffalo Orienteering Trail in Delamere Forest
Last Summer holidays we hit Delamere Forest to take part in the Gruffalo Trail and though we somehow managed to miss out a few of the pictures we still had a great day and were keen to revisit. When I found out about the new Gruffalo Orienteering at Delamere Forest I knew we had to go!
The previous Gruffalo Trail basically involved walking around the route, following the signs and spotting some large character pictures pinned to trees along the way. It made for a lovely walk around the forest and gave the children something a little extra to spur them on when they were getting tired.
To fully benefit from the Gruffalo Orienteering Course you need to purchase a map
This year however the Gruffalo Trail has been pimped up and is now “Gruffalo Orienteering” – to take part you need to purchase your map from the Delamere Cafe at a cost of £1.50. The pack basically consists of an A4 map and a leaflet with questions on. The idea being that you follow the map to identify the Gruffalo markers and find the answers to the questions as you go. I loved that this added an extra element of challenge for our boys who, now a year older, were able to have a go at following the map and were more than capable of reading and answering the questions as we went around. It made it really exciting for them and the questions were pitched perfectly to draw out what the children already knew and add a little to their knowledge of the forest.
Now you can just follow the route around the forest without the map and it would make for a lovely walk, however you’d probably struggle to find the twelve Gruffalo markers as many of them are hidden just off the track – even with the map I must admit we missed out a couple!! (I blame the boys and their underdeveloped map reading skills!) So yes, I would suggest investing in your map at the start if you do want to find them all!
The Gruffalo Statue in Delamere Forest
We were all really excited to discover that the Gruffalo statue was still there towards the end of the route and of course couldn’t resist a photo opportunity.
In terms of accessibility you could have happily walked around with a pushchair today as the ground was quite dry however we chose to leave ours behind this time and just use carriers. Erin tried out our new Hamahaki Hopp and Amy was more than happy to be carried around in our faithful Beco Soleil. There were plenty of people riding bikes around the route as well – something which I’m sure our boys might enjoy another time!
Of course being super successful Gruffalo Orienteers we more than deserved our ice creams – the range of flavours available is epic and I fully recommend the blackcurrant cheesecake! (At £2 for a generous single scoop you can’t complain.)
With plenty of space for picnicking and running around and just £6 for all day parking we managed to while away about 5 hours at Delamere Forest today with minimal effort, had the weather been a bit kinder I think we’d have been there even longer!
If you’re looking for somewhere to stay near Delamere Forest, check out the Delamere Forest Camping and Caravanning Site.
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This really does look so cool, I'm adding it to our summer bucket list. Thanks for sharing 🙂
My pleasure 🙂 x
Oh sounds good, do you have to do the orienteering? I'd love to take Sienna, but at only 2 and a half I don't think she'd be able to fully do it! X
No Kerry, if you don't do the orienteering it's still a lovely walk around the Forest with a Gruffalo statue to be found – the orienteering just adds an extra level of challenge and interest for the older ones 🙂
We have got to make it back to Delamere soon, this looks great, we've loved the previous trails but the addition of the orienteering is perfect for slightly older children! A wonderful ay to spend a birthday! Thanks for linking up to #WHWH
He told me it was his "best birthday ever" 🙂
Well done the forestry Commission making a great concept even better, perfect for your children who might have been bored with the older format this year. A great challenge and lovely photos of your day out together. Thank you for sharing with me on Country Kids.
I wonder if they've rolled that our everywhere? The last time we went to our local site it was still Super Worm, will have to investigate! #CountryKids
This looks great. The idea of following the map makes it feel a bit more special than just wandering round and you can see how happy they all look x
That’s such a great idea – I love all the forest trails but this sounds really fun to get older ones even more involved. #countrykids
ooo this looks fab – I wonder if our local Gruffalo trail has pimped its walk up too 🙂 thank you for sharing #CoutryKids
This looks fab, we love the Gruffalo! Hoping to make it to the trail at Lyme Park this summer but would love to do something like this when Monkey's older #whwh
This looks fab, we love the Gruffalo! Hoping to make it to the trail at Lyme Park this summer but would love to do something like this when Monkey's older #whwh
Delamere Forest looks great! We visited the Gruffalo at Alice Holt but this trail looks much better. Love the Ice Cream shots! #TriedTested
How fun is this! I wish we had something like this near us because it looks perfect. I loved that photo of you and Amy too! Gorgeous! #triedandtested
That sounds great – we enjoyed the Gruffalo trail last year but I like this for making it a little more interesting and challenging. Toddler carriers are great though – especially with things like this when you're just not sure if it will be buggy-friendly.
You can't beat a Gruffalo trail – always lots of fun. We did one last year in Hamsterley forest and loved it x
This look's great and lots of fun for little ones. I cant wait until my little two are older to do things like this xx
We love Gruffalo trails and have a fab one near us too! Great aren't they!
What a fabulous day out, I have never visited but would love to see the Gruffalo x
We did a Gruffalo trail around this time last year near us and it was great. We are hoping to go back again this year. The orienteering part sounds fun – my boy loves a map! #TriedTested
Ah we have done many a Gruffalo hunt. My fav was Thorndon Country park as lovely sculptures everywhere
This looks amazing!! My boys would love this – we enjoy wooded walks and also the gruffalo #countrykids xx
I LOVED the Gruffalo when I was younger, this looks so much fun! Hope you're enjoying yourselves. x
What a fantastic day out…..It looks like you all had a wonderful time x
Looks like you had a fantastic time! Love the photo's too!
Wow 5 hours is impressive. I want to take our bikes now I've got one, because it'll be safer for N than going out on the roads.
Love the idea of orienteering. Might have to try it in our nearest forests.
What a great idea, my kids would probably argue but I am sure if we tried we would get there in the end. Your photos are fab 🙂
Everyone that goes here always says how brilliant it is. I'd love to do it one, probably should take Z with me too 🙂 oh and that ice cream, yummy!!
This looks properly fab – my little ones would love it!
That looks like fun. My kids love a challenge – little touches like this really make a day out for our family. I'd love to visit.
This sounds fab, definitely somewhere to visit when Aria is a little older.
#TriedTested
Wow, the Gruffalo and orienteering… two of my kids favourite things! Looks like a great day out! #triedtested
This sounds like a fab day out! Love the sound of that ice cream! Yum! 🙂 #TriedTested
I love the gruffalo trails and am so glad to see that they are extending them to become even more hands on and interactive. I will need to look up one a bit closer to me. Do you know if they have done the same with SuperWorm?
Thanks
Katrina
What a brilliant day out, looks good for both little kids and big kids!!! Will definitely be adding this onto my thing to do next time we travel up north. That ice-cream looks superb
Laura x
Sounds like a brilliant day, so much fun, and map reading to top it off!
We love the Gruffalo and have a country park near to us who have various Gruffalo themed walks (and the wooden statue!). I think my little one is a bit young for orienteering plus I'm rubbish at reading maps so we might just stick to having a nice walk if we visit 😉
Looks like so much fun, and those ice creams look tasty :). x
#TriedTested
This looks and sounds fantastic. My children love the gruffalo (I'm yet to meet a child who doesn't!) and we would love to do something like this. If only we were closer!x
Lots of fun – only about 40 mins from us so we have done it a few times #TriedTested
This sounds really fun. I'll have to find out if there is anything similar near us #TriedTested
This looks like great fun, I really want to take my girls there!
Visiting from #triedtested – still think this looks fab 🙂 x
Wow that looks fab! We've done a couple of trails (Gruffalo's Child & Superworm) but this one looks a bit different and great for older kids.
#TriedTested
Wow this look amazing! We have a Gruffalo trail near us but this looks amazing, especially for children older than Boo =)
looks like a great place to go, hope one day we will go there when L is ready